‘The Flash’ fizzles at the box office amid Ezra Miller controversy, studio woes
Warner Bros. and DC Studios’ “The Flash” opened in first place at the domestic box office this weekend, grossing $55.1 million, according to estimates from measurement firm Comscore.
But the superhero movie — whose marketing campaign has been marred by legal scandals and disturbing allegations surrounding its star, Ezra Miller — fell short of early domestic box office projections in the $70-million to $75-million range.
Internationally, the film made $75 million for a global cumulative of $130.1 million.
“The Flash” is not the first DC title to disappoint at the box office in recent years. The critically panned “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” launched at $30.5 million in March, while “Black Adam” bowed at $67 million in October (not a terrible number, but nothing compared with superhero movies from rival studio Marvel, which typically rake in more than $100 million on opening weekend).
The studio has been in a state of turmoil since the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, which resulted in mass layoffs and killed upcoming DC projects such as “Batgirl” and “Wonder Woman 3.” Controversially, “The Flash” was not among the casualties.
Ezra Miller leaning toward a camera in the red costume of “The Flash”
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Rounding out the top three at the domestic box office this weekend are Disney and Pixar’s “Elemental,” which debuted with a lackluster showing of $29.5 million; and Sony Pictures Animation’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” which added $27.8 million in its third weekend for a North American total of $280.4 million.
Directed by Andrés Muschietti, “The Flash” sees Miller’s Barry Allen embark on a supersonic journey through space and time in an effort to save the universe. The supporting cast features Sasha Calle’s Supergirl, Ben Affleck’s Batman and Michael Keaton’s Batman.
The action film’s release comes on the heels of a turbulent period for both its studio and its lead, who has repeatedly been arrested and accused of misconduct in recent years.
Ezra Miller gives a slight smile while wearing a white coat and high-collared shirt with hair worn down with a top knot
‘The Flash’ premiere brings Ezra Miller back to center stage in wake of legal drama
Prosecutors dropped the harassment charge after Miller pleaded no contest to misdemeanor disorderly conduct and was ordered to pay a $500 fine. No formal charges have been pressed in the assault case.
The teenager at the center of the case has since defended Miller and dismissed the grooming allegations as “a disgusting and irresponsible smear campaign” against the actor.
In January, Miller was placed on probation after they were charged with trespassing and felony burglary in Vermont, where a child services agency was reportedly searching for a mother and three children who had been living on Miller’s farm.
The “Justice League” breakout also reportedly met with studio executives and showed remorse for drawing negative attention to themself — and, by extension, “The Flash” — last summer as Warner Bros. was weathering a massive creative overhaul.
In the weeks leading up to the movie’s release, Miller has mostly stayed out of the spotlight. They did, however, make a rare appearance this month at the film’s Los Angeles premiere, where they gave a warm shout-out to Muschietti and thanked various studio execs for their support.
“Every few years, you have one of these unfortunate situations where a star who is inextricably linked with a character or a movie has very public off-screen issues,” Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, recently told The Times.
“This causes the studio publicity people nightmares because it takes one more thing out of their control. ‘The Flash’ will be a case study in what happens if you can’t have the main star doing publicity.”
Following Muschietti, Warner Bros. Discovery President David Zaslav and DC co-head James Gunn‘s attempts to hype it up (Zaslav and Gunn called it one of the best superhero movies they’ve ever seen, while Muschietti declared that no one could play the Scarlet Speedster better than Miller), “The Flash” earned mixed reviews and a decent 67% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
“The most compelling question ‘The Flash’ poses, in the end, has little to do with separating the art from the artist; it’s about whether we can separate the film from the fan service,” writes Times film critic Justin Chang.
“Lost in an endless game of IP-reshuffling musical chairs, Barry realizes, possibly too late, the futility of dwelling on the past — a fatuous lesson from a movie that can’t stop doing the same.”
Ezra Miller reportedly met with studio to keep ‘Flash’ from becoming next ‘Batgirl’
